48 replies to this topic

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Well,I've been a lazy sod when the band was goin'. I've been a bit apprehensive as well with the bits I have.
I have Logic(a keyboard friend of mine recommended it to me big time).
I also have pod farm and Ableton live/riffworks. which came with my Line 6 UX1
I still have Gearbox which came with my Toneport GX.
And Garageband on my Mac.

The reason (which looks good) I am apprehensive about Logic is the graph type stuff.
When I used to use cassette recorders peak meters were easy to understand.
It seems like you get an awful lot for your dosh.But with so much stuff, it makes stuff more complicated than need be imho.
I was wondering if it's worth going on a one day course for Logic.I have books ,but keep putting them off.

Now that I am bandless, I need to do something with this stuff.

Nice thread by the way

[Rich]

Well, I like Audacity. I like it a lot.

[Musky]

Happy Jack - are you sure your version of ASD doesn't supporting saving as an MP3? The version I've got will save as mp3, m4a, AIFF (WAV) and Quicktime (though I suspect I'd need the full version of Quicktime to save in this format - I've never tried).

[xgsjx]

Ok, bit of software for the phone only (I believe one calls it an 'App).

Guitar Toolkit is one piece of software I use on an almost daily basis.

You select your instrument, whether that be 6, 7 or 12 string guitar, 4, 5 or 6 string bass, banjo, mandolin or ukulele. Then chose what tuning you want it to be in (Standard EADG, drop D, tenor ADGC & so on).
Choose a reference pitch (eg, A: 440 hz) & then right or left handed.

Then there's a tuner, a fretboard (which allows you to view & play any scales you want), a metronome with various time signatures and a chord chart (you choose any chord you want & it'll show you all the variations of it).

Don't let the guitar bit put you off, bass is very well accommodated for.

I have it on my iPhone, not sure if the make it for any other phones.

[markstuk]

I use Tuxguitar - similar to Guitar Pro, but free.....

[Delberthot]

If you practice, change strings or setup your bass in front of the computer and your tuner is either downstairs or stored in the band's van/lockup then I find this very useful:

http://www.gieson.co...tilities/tuner/

[Happy Jack]

Some nice toys on that Gieson site.

[bluesparky]

Happy Jack, on Dec 2 2010, 10:58 AM, said:

Some nice toys on that Gieson site.

Yeah, i've just spent a while on it too.
Thanks.

[bluesparky]

I also use Finale Notepad to scribble down any notation / transcriptions i do.
It used to be free but it's still quite cheap.
It's not the most powerful or versatile piece of software, but it does the job nice and simply.
http://www.finalemus...ad/Default.aspx

[Mcgiver69]

Well here is my list:

For Windows:

- Express Scribe (free software that helps you to slow down, learn and play along to any song)
- Reaper (For all the reasons said before)
- Mixcraft 5 (a ton of features for $75, even more features than Reaper) and dead easy to learn.
- Audacity (enough said)
- Hydrogen (Drum machine for free with tons of features)

For Linux:

- Hydrogen
- Audacity
- Ardour
For Linux I like the Ubuntu Studio package or the AV-Linux which is the one I have installed at the moment.

[urb]

I'm a big fan of Logic for writing and arranging stuff but I've seen a full Pro Tools rig in action a few times and for tracking a band I think it's hard to beat - it's so fast for editing stuff it's awesome - the latest Logic does a lot of that and has an amazing amount of cool things like all the plugins it comes with and it's great for editing MIDI.

I also rate Garageband as possibly the best 'free' DAW... and I have seen Cubase rocking too, it just drove me nuts! And I'm still getting my head around the vast number of possibilities with Ableton and the fact I keep getting latency when I use it... even though I've worked through ways of getting rid of it - any tips gratefully received.

I just discovered this bit of 'slow down' / transcriptiomn software that works with iTunes:

http://supermegaultr.../products/Capo/

It's meant to be the best one out there - I've used the Amazing Slow Downer and it's OK but I didn't the way the audio gets glitchy when it's going really slow..

M

[Rosh]

urb, on Dec 2 2010, 04:45 PM, said:

I'm a big fan of Logic for writing and arranging stuff but I've seen a full Pro Tools rig in action a few times and for tracking a band I think it's hard to beat - it's so fast for editing stuff it's awesome

+10000 tbf.

It's pretty much the industry standard for a reason!

I use the LE package at home, but I regularly use the HD package with CONTROL24 and love it!

[tarcher]

On my iphone
1.
TheiReal book+ the jazz pack.This plays the chords for you in whatever style and tempo you want eg Bossa Nova 100bpm Latin or whatever you want.
You get a backing of piano bass and drumsand you can adjust the levels of each to however you want it plus transposing if you wish.
If you go to the Realbook forum(just a touch on the bottom rh corner of the screen) you can easily access hundreds more tunes and playlists that contributor have put there for your delictation.These are all free by the way.

2.The Amazing Slow Downer App
Does what it says on the tin plus loops etc.

These apps are bloody amazing and they cost peanuts,well,a few quid actually but not very much.

[theosd]

For my android phone I've downloaded the 'gstrings' and 'mobile metronome' apps. Both excellent, but especially the former. Any other android apps people can recommend?

[Low End Bee]

RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE, on Dec 1 2010, 08:20 PM, said:

Well,I've been a lazy sod when the band was goin'. I've been a bit apprehensive as well with the bits I have.
I have Logic(a keyboard friend of mine recommended it to me big time).
I also have pod farm and Ableton live/riffworks. which came with my Line 6 UX1
I still have Gearbox which came with my Toneport GX.
And Garageband on my Mac.

The reason (which looks good) I am apprehensive about Logic is the graph type stuff.
When I used to use cassette recorders peak meters were easy to understand.
It seems like you get an awful lot for your dosh.But with so much stuff, it makes stuff more complicated than need be imho.
I was wondering if it's worth going on a one day course for Logic.I have books ,but keep putting them off.

Now that I am bandless, I need to do something with this stuff.

Nice thread by the way

I use Garageband all the time as it's so easy. I'd love to learn how to use Logic too as it seems to do so much more. It's a bit overwhelming though and I need a physical, real person to teach me.

[dood]

Just gotten Guitar Pro 6. A HUGE improvement over Guitar Pro 5. I highly recommend upgrading. You can download a demo of 6 to see it in action. http://www.guitar-pro.com/en/index.php

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Low End Bee, on Dec 15 2010, 05:16 PM, said:

I use Garageband all the time as it's so easy. I'd love to learn how to use Logic too as it seems to do so much more. It's a bit overwhelming though and I need a physical, real person to teach me.

I should use Garageband ,and now that I'm bandless I'll get my finger out. As for Logic,
I did see some one day courses advertised . One was in some guys house in Slough.

[BigBeatNut]

Delberthot, on Dec 1 2010, 02:53 PM, said:

I use Best Practice for this. Its free and appears to do everything your one does except from removing the low frequencies - you can change the pitch, tuning if what you are listening to isn;t quite to pitch without having to retune the bass to compensate, change the speed and loop. You just adjust any parameter you need to and it does it almost right away

Suprised no-one has mentioned 'Vox' (used to be 'Toolplayer') for the mac. It appears to be in the same ballpark as Best Practice and it's my go to rehearsal tool ... pitch changes (now calibrated in 10ths of a semitone ... good enough) tempo changes (plus a bunch of bizarre stuff you most likely wont need, but it's hidden and doesn't get in the way.

If you have MP3s that are miss-tagged, or you need to tag your recordings, MP3Tag (win only) and MusicBrainz Picard (mac/win) are a god-send.

Besides that, the ubiquitous cross-platform Audacity, also Cubase LE (mac and windows, free with Alesis audio interface ) and the software associated with my Bass Pod (which I used to gig, but it seems to now be home (rehearsal/recording) use only.

I'd really like to know of some drum software that accepts midi-in and has a good selection of built in patterns and kits. Preferably free of course. Tried Hydrogen, but the mac version was so flakey I gave up on it. (Mac is my main rehearsal recording tool)

Andy

[Mugz.wood]

i use reason for midi sequencing.
cubase is faffy but good for recording and midi sequencing
pro tools is excellent for recording not so great for midi sequencing
logic is very good at alot and hardly any faff, and u can export tracks in seconds as apposed to pro tools and maybe cubase that makes u wait the entire duration of the track.
thats my take on the recording software that ive used so far

on another note i used the ear master 5 free trial the other day i only spent about an hour on it and i have actually noticed an improvement, £30

[vsmith1]

On my iPhone I have:

Guitar Toolkit - mentioned previously
TabToolkit - can take Guitar Pro files and play back on the iPhone
PolyTune - neat - but the low B can confuse it
Pedersen Strobe Tuner - neat

Bass Rig models:
Amplitube - there are some bass amps and FX
Ampkit - a bass amp and some FX
PocketGK - GK amps and two cabs; can play backing tracks directly from the iPod app

I use the Peavey Ampkit Link as my interface into the iPhone.

I also use on my Mac:
GarageBand
iTunes
Guitar Pro
Neutrino - this can do key changes or tempo changes; uses the iTunes library
Line 6 PodFarm - some very neat Bass amps, and FX
Amplitube - I have a single Ampeg model which sounds great
Ableton Live - not used much recently

Interfaces:
Line 6 UX2
Presonus Firebox